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Science and Technology of the Byzantine Imperium
=Weapons Technology= Nova Gun A high power rail gun that accelerates a 100,000 tonne projectile to hyper relativistic velocities. The projectile can carry any type of warhead, from Warp warheads, to SuperNova plasma warheads. Their fantastic speed allows the Imperial Navy excellent stand off capability, as these projectiles have wide area effect. Projectiles with hielm drive do exist to allow these projectiles to hit a velocity equal to a few times the speed of light. Warp Lance The monster of a cannon that has a rift generator as a source of its destructive capability, the Warp Lance fires a stream of exotic particles that are emitted from a rift in space-time. The idea behind the gun is simple: If exotic particles emitted from a rift in space-time are so energetic that they also sustain the rift itself, what happens when you apply the same sort of energies to a local area containing normal matter? These exotic particles warp and rip space time, and when applied to normal matter, the results were often devastating. The warping of space-time have catastrophic effects on the molecular bonds of normal matter, ripping the bonds apart and utterly destroying the target armor. Shields also have a hard time trying to protect ships from such warping effects, and eventually they would be overwhelmed. Such guns however, are incredibly energy intensive, and only the biggest warships incorporate a select few of these guns. The cannon were introduced at the start of the Imperium-Karlack war, after a century of research into rift generators such that they could be made into weapons themselves. Warp guns and related weapons are a treasured technology and its workings are regarded as top-secret and only limited to a number of people within the Imperium. Construction of these guns take place within the forges of Mars and under high security. These guns are continually improved, and the latest Mk X Warp Lances feature greater stability and power than their predecessors, as well as increased accuracy. Warp Lances are normally found on the largest ships, though smaller ones do exist but largely in the Imperial Guard's Baneblade, the Astartes' Nihilus, the Astartes Dreadnaught and the Imperator and Warlord Titans. For most lesser ships, plasma guns and lance guns are favored because they offer a mix of penetration capabilities and fire rate. Currently, research and development is directed towards producing smaller variants of the warp guns, while retaining their high destructive potential. Baneblades and Nihilus tanks make severe compromises to crew spaces in order to incorporate this weapon, while the Astartes Dreadnaught's version of the cannon practically encompasses an entire arm. These smaller guns are also regarded as generally energy inefficient compared to plasma lances. Part of the main issue remains that it is difficult to build smaller Warp cores to power these cannons which are stable and supply enough energy to power these cannons. The all-Warp cannon warship is the current dream of naval designers, and it is expected that within the ten years, these all-Warp cannon warships will soon emerge from the shipyards and present ships will be re-equipped as such. SuperNova Plasma Lances Supernova plasma Lances essentially are plasma lances where the plasma has been heated to temperatures comparable to the plasma unleashed during a supernova. These guns are typically slaved to an Acretion Disk Fusion reactor that generates the high temperature plasma, and then feeds the plasma to a electromagnetic bottle that stores and expells the plasma through a superconducting barrel at high speeds. It is similar in principle to an ion cannon, but speed isn't so essential to a plasma gun. Plasma guns such as these have excellent armor piercing properties, and only the densest of armors can withstand a blast of these weapons. This is a highly refined and mature weapon technology that has served the Imperium very well through the centuries. There is room for some improvement of course, but their high energy efficiency and damage power comparable to medium to low power Solarian autolasers mean they will continue to be useful in the near future. It should be noted that plasma remains extremely deadly to organic material. Plasma Lances are also used extensively by the Imperial Army, and the standard Imperial Guardsmen rifle is a plasma rifle. Heavy plasma rifles exist as a section support weapon, and plasma lances also outfit tanks such as the Exarch tank, or the Varangian Rus tank. Photon Lances A photon lance simply consists of many lasers chained and phased locked together to produce a single powerful beam of photons that is focused with gravity lensing. The advantage of this gun is its relative long range when focused with gravity. These guns are slowly going out of fashion as advances in warp cannon technology allow for smaller caliber warp cannon. Torpedoes Torpedoes are standard large guided missiles which have advanced algorithms to enable them to accomplish their mission. Heavily equipped with ECCM and ECM and hologram technology and void shield technology, these missiles close in at high speed and can carry a variety of warheads, from plasma, to gravity to warp. Warp torpedoes naturally are used sparingly but are incredibly powerful nonentheless. Warp warheads, consisting of a rift generator that is set to go to critical at impact, could also be used to power the torpedo itself. The torpedoes can also be used for orbital bombardment if the need arises. Gravity torpedoes naturally release a concentrated burst of gravitons that simply shatter the local crust. These are incredibly useful when the Imperium needs to soften up an area for further bombardment when dealing with Karlack pests. Scutum Space Defence System Essentially Aegis in space, the Scutum Space Defence system was the Imperium's answer to the growing use of starfighters and the Karlack's endless swarm of ships. To counter the Karlack swarm, the Imperium resorted to fighting back with swarm of intelligent ECCM/ECM equipped missiles to shoot down Karlack ships. To this end, this system was installed in entirety on the Scutum cruisers and major fleet warships. Scutum cruisers are incredibly flexible, as their missiles can also be used to attack enemy capital ships, often with incredible accuracy. Their powerful long range space based sensors also act as a vanguard against stealth attack. Land variants of the system exists as well, although as one would expect, the missiles in the system would be designed with different purposes in mind. Moreover, one would also expect gun batteries to work in tandem with the missile systems. There are two land variants: a mobile and a static Integrated Space Defence System (ISDS). The static version would of course be able to use heavier missiles and would often work in tandem with anti-capital ship batteries. These monstrous batteries are more than capable of tearing the hearts out of any warship in orbit. The mobile version would naturally favour missiles that are optimised for mobility and point defence batteries. No Imperial Guard or PDF would enter combat without one of a mobile Scutum ISDS ensuring the sky is clean of any air attack, even though navy elements would be expected to provide vital support to any major ground invasions. Scutum missiles typically use plasma warheads for cost effectiveness, but warp warheads do exist but are only used in the most demanding of conditions. If the Imperium would simply use warp warheads against endless swarms of Karlacks, the Ministry of Finance would surely scream at the sheer rise in the military budget. Bolter/Tachyon Point Defence System A combination of railgun fired projectiles and tachyon weapons allow for fast reaction time and guards Imperial warships from saturation attacks and starfighter attacks. These are standard equipment aboard any Imperial vessel. Powered Weapons Melee weapons that are sheathed in a warp field that warps space-time are incredibly effective weapons against enemy armor. Such weapons are known to crack or slice through just about anything, tearing the intermolecular bonds with ease. Armor penetrating weapons are often sheathed in this warp field to enhance their penetration. The technology is partly derived from the Warp drive, and the field coils are in some ways miniaturised Warp Drive coils but they are calibrated to produce a far less intense field (for the obvious reasons) and optimised for efficiency. =Protection Technology= Void Shields Void Shields defend Imperial Navy warships against all manner of attack, from warp guns to high velocity projectiles to warheads. Utilizing warp drive technology to some extent, the warping of space time acts as a barrier against enemy attack. Void Shields, because of their nature, also protect against psychic attack. Personal Void shields do exist. ECM/ECCM The Imperium employs a wide variety of ECM/ECCM technologies. It does employ high intelligence AIs which are designed such that they can be destroyed should they cross certain parameters, and they are used to infect enemy starships and to take control of enemy ship systems. These AIs are also meant to protect against invasive attacks on ship systems as well. Further, various electromagnetic and tachyon systems are used to distort detection systems. Graviton waves are used to detect cloaked vessels, as well as to distort radar returns. The Imperium also has an array of Quantum Computer systems as well as classical computer systems that are well isolated from outside attack. Nanotechnology The Imperium does make extensive use of Nanotechnology. Each nanorobot has a Quantum Vacuum processor and draws instructions from a master controller. These nanorobots are used both as a weapon of mass destruction in nanovirus bombs (which literally obliterate everything standing in their way), and as a protection tool. Nanorobots are used to aid in medical treatment, both on the field and in hospitals, as well as to repair damaged armor. Nanorobots can also be used for superparallel processing as well. Nanorobots are a controlled technology in the Imperium, and product and sale are closely monitored. =Naval Power Systems= Rift Generator The Rift Generator produces power through a rift in the space-time continuum. The emission of high energy exotic particles from within the rift not only sustains the rift, but generates vast amounts of energy required to power a large battleship. The reactor was designed and constructed some time in the late 30th century in a secret facility in deep space for initial trials and testing. Such generators require an external power source to kick start the creation of the rift before the rift generator could be self-sustaining. Powerful graviton fields ensure that the rift stays stable and doesn't grow too large. Gravitational waves emitted from a rift generator are used to run inertial kinetic turbines, while the energetic particle emissions are captured through a tailored gravitational field that draws the particles into a catchment devices that allows them to decay and release considerable energy. It took decades before the design was sufficiently refined and certified safe enough to operate on naval warships and on planets as a power source. It produces incredibly huge amounts of energy, and each new iteration of the rift generator is more powerful and more efficient than the previous version. In the recent century, micro-rift generators have been introduced in greater numbers as the technology improves, finding its way into Imperial tanks, Titans, and even torpedoes. While micro-rift generators are deemed inefficient compared to larger ones, they produce comparably more power than similar sized plasma generators. Antimatter Reactor Standard antimatter reactors that rely on the annihiliation of a plasma stream of hydrogen and anti-hydrogen, thus allowing for high power energy generation. The only problem was that significant volume had to be devoted to the storage and confinement of the plasma. Nevertheless, this reactor type is highly favored for small craft, and for auxiliary power generation on larger craft. Accretion Disk Plasma Fusion Reactor Whereas a standard fusion reactor relies on light gravity fields to confine plasma, an accretion disk plasma fusion relies on a pre-created singularity that is held tightly by strong graviton beams to slow its decay. At the same time, much higher temperature fusion takes place where even heavier atoms can fuse and generate far more heat than normal fusion rectors. This reactor technology is considered as highly refined technology and unless substantial breakthroughs are achieved in gravity control and other areas, not much progress is expected. Solar Plasma Fusion Reactor Standard high efficiency fusion reactors that allow solar level fusion to take place and generate power. =Propulsion technologies= Directed Graviton Drive While Graviton fields could be used to propell the Imperium's warships, they are not powerful enough to propell them with the high acceleration required for space combat. As such, actual graviton motors fire concentrated streams of gravitons, propelling the ship. Coupled with inertial-dampner fields that warp space-time in front of the warship to make its passage through space easier, the Directed Graviton drive can drive the largest Imperial warships with ease. Plasma Ion Drive An older propulsion system that long since gone out of service, but is still in use in the civilian sector, and perhaps among old warships stationed at Jenova. Warp Drive Imperial warships favour hyperspace travel in a plane of existence called the 'Warp'. Travel through the Warp allows for ships to attain far greater speeds than most, especially in the Shoals. It is of course a risky matter of travelling through the Warp, and early experiments aimed at enabling Imperial Warships to travel in planes of existence that allowed for faster travel have been quite disastrous, resulting in the loss of at least one ship of which is now lost to reality forever. =Psyker Technology= Psychic Amplifier A closely guarded secret, the psychic amplifier allows for the amplification of psychic powers. One might regard it as an amplifier and a radar of one's psychic powers, radiating psychic energies at greater strength than before. At the same time, as it emits psychic energies, it can also be modified to emit fields to control and nullify the strength of psychic powers. The most powerful psychic amplifier in existence is the Golden Throne, which amplifies the God Emperor's already incredibly powerful psychic powers, which grow in strength day by day. Psychic Interrogator A mix of psyker technology, and nanotechnology, these devices allow the rewrite of a human mind, or allow an interrogator to simply rip out from someone's mind knowledge that laid within. These Category:Byzantine Imperium